Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Iran, a member of the Bush 'Axis of Evil' which also includes North Korea, accused the Bush administration of having new invasion plans after Iraq. Although, the officials were clearly referring to Iran, North Koreans could hardly have noticed that they would be included by default.

It is this lack of credibility, this lack of trust in the administration's ability and desire to solve differences diplomatically that puts other nations on a footing to defend themselves from the offensive posture of the Bush administration.

The accusation came as Iran's delegation stormed out of a closed-door meeting with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog that set Iran an October 31 deadline to prove it had no secret atomic weapons program. The toughly worded resolution gives Iran -- branded by Washington last year as part of an 'axis of evil' with pre-war Iraq and North Korea -- one last chance to prove it has been complying with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)....a treaty that the Bush administration abandoned long ago.

Step 66) - 09/15/2003

In a show of global military dominance, the Bush administration announces the largest military budget since the Korean war -- $466 billion - over 89 times as much spent by North Korea ($5.2 billion FY 2002).

Step 67) - 09/15/2003

Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned that Japan would attack if North Korea aims its missiles at the island. He stressed his country's right to a first-strike on North Korea if they thought an attack was imminent.

Shigeru: 'The Japanese constitution permits my position. Attacking North Korea after a missile attack on Japan is too late. If North Korea orders its military to send a missile to attack Japan and the missile is raised to vertical in preparation for launch, then Japan will assume that an attack has begun and has the right to attack that particular missile launch site. What else can the missile be used for but to attack us?'

Intelligence officials estimate that North Korea has at least 100 Rodong ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan.... The hawkish Mr Ishiba, who has earned a reputation for pushing the limits of Japan's debate on defense since taking office almost a year ago, has made clear he favors a much tougher stance than his predecessors toward Pyongyang.

Step 68) - 09/17/2003

A report emerges that says the Bush administration is preparing plans to use a nuclear weapon - possibly on North Korea. Reports also show that Bush circumvented congress with its order to develop 'mini-nukes'.

"Swomley, who teaches Christian ethics at the St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, has authored an indictment of the Bush administration's foreign policy that includes actual plans to use nuclear bombs as pre-emptive weapons. It is essential, he says in a magazine article, for Americans to understand that the administration has directed the military to prepare plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries - China, Russia, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Libya and Iraq... Swomley quotes defense budget analyst Bill Donahue, who says that the United States is spending roughly $5.8 billion on nuclear weapons this year and that the Los Alamos National Laboratories have been told to begin developing 'earth penetrator' mini-nukes even before seeking permission from Congress."

Step 69) - 09/20/2003

Heightening tensions on the Pacific rim, a hawkish panel in Japan calls the 'antiwar' Japanese constitution an 'obstacle'.

"In light of the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, the government should alter its interpretation of the Constitution and allow Japan to exercise the right of collective defense, according to a report compiled Thursday by an advisory panel to Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi. 'The government's interpretation of the Constitution, barring the country from exercising the right of collective defense, is an obstacle,' the report says. It notes that many security experts believe Japan should change its interpretation to preserve the nation's peace and security. Touching on Japan's vow that it will 'not produce, not possess and not allow nuclear weapons into the country,' the report claims that the third principle is effectively violated by the port calls of U.S. ships carrying nuclear arms. Rather than clinging to these principles, however, Japan should explicitly allow U.S. vessels of this kind to call at Japanese ports, given the situation in North Korea, the report says."

Step 70) - 10/23/2003

It is revealed that Donald Rumsfeld led a 'Team B' for North Korea , a project designed to distort intelligence for political purposes.

The latest "Team B" is William Luti's Office of Special Plans (OSP), which manipulated intelligence to make a bogus case for the Iraq War. The blueprint for this scheme originated back when Bush Sr. was CIA Director. He appointed a "Team B" commission under Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz that exaggerated the Soviet Threat. The "Team B" model was integrated into the bureaucracy of the CIA during the Reagan Years. Unmentioned in this report is that Rumsfeld has headed other Team B's, such as one on North Korea during the Clinton years.

Step 71) - 11/08/2003

The Bush Administration learns what happens when you alienate your allies and the world. In so doing, Bush put our nation at greater risk of isolation and limited our options in dealing with North Korea and other global hot spots.

"Turkey said Friday that it was withdrawing its offer to deploy troops to help stabilize Iraq. The decision ended a lengthy and almost entirely futile effort by the Bush administration to solicit large numbers of foreign troops to bolster the American presence. With the announcement, the administration's effort, presented by the president in early September, appears to be close to a complete failure. India and Pakistan both have declined, at least for the time being. South Korea has said it may be willing, but is concerned about reducing its own troop levels at a moment of heightened tension with North Korea. Japan has approved sending some troops for noncombat missions, but has yet to deploy them. There are 24,000 non-American troops in Iraq, but almost half of them are British, and few countries have agreed in recent months to join the effort."

Step 72) - 11/08/2003

The CIA warned that North Korea has missiles capable of reaching the continental United States.

"The CIA is sounding a new alarm that North Korea may be ready to flight test a nuclear capable multi-stage missile capable of reaching parts of the United States... The agency said in previous reports that in a regular two-stage set up, the Taepo Dong-2 could deliver a payload of several hundred kilograms to Alaska, Hawaii and parts of the continental United States. In an adapted three-stage configuration, the Taepo Dong-2 could in theory ferry a warhead to anywhere in North America. North Korea has said it will stick to its missile moratorium until the end of this year, but yet to commit to extending it into next year."

Step 73) - 11/25/2003

Bush weakened the U.S.'s position in the Korean crisis. While North Korea threatened nuclear war, the Bush administration planned troop pullouts from the Korean peninsula to provide relief troops to Iraq.

"The Washington Times quoted unnamed military officials as saying that soldiers currently stationed in South Korea could soon find themselves in Iraq or Afghanistan. The paper said Washington was also planning to move most of the 7,000 people in its headquarters in Seoul out of the capital within a year... In a statement last week Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil reaffirmed a plan to withdraw US forces from camps near the frontlines with North Korea. Rumsfeld insisted any pullback would not weaken the US stance against the Stalinist state. 'We understand weakness can be provocative, that weakness can invite people to do things that they otherwise would not be inclined to consider,' Rumsfeld said. South Korea and the US last Monday agreed to a phased pullback of some 15,000 troops close to the border with N Korea. The move is part of a sweeping reorganization of US troops across the region, including the 47,000 soldiers based in Japan."

Step 74) - 11/25/2003

Vice President Cheney sabotages Korean negotiations and undermines Pyongyang's trust.

"George Bush talked with Chinese President Hu Jintao by telephone at the weekend after revelations that [Cheney] had derailed diplomatic preparations for new talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons... The Knight-Ridder newspaper chain said a senior official had quoted Mr Cheney as telling the meeting: 'I have been charged by the President with making sure that none of the tyrannies in the world are negotiated with. We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it.' The re-emergence of the word 'evil' and talk of defeat - recalling Mr Bush's January 2002 speech linking North Korea with Iraq and Iran in an 'axis of evil' - is likely to make the North Koreans even more distrustful of promising anything ahead of hard guarantees from the US and its allies... Diplomatic momentum is unlikely to rebuild for several weeks, unless Mr Bush's phone talk indicates the issue has been taken over Mr Cheney's head"

Step 75) - 12/31/2003

Neoconservative hardliners demand global war. The demands are consistent with those purported by the Project for a New American Century, an organization whose membership has included at one time or another Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, John Bolton and the author of these demands - Richard Perle.

"George W Bush was sent a public manifesto yesterday by Washington's hawks, demanding regime change in Syria and Iran and a Cuba-style military blockade of North Korea backed by planning for a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear sites. The manifesto, presented as a 'manual for victory' in the war on terror, also calls for Saudi Arabia and France to be treated not as allies but as rivals and possibly enemies. The manifesto is contained in a new book by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser and 'intellectual guru' of the hard-line neo-conservative movement, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter. They give warning of a faltering of the 'will to win' in Washington. In the battle for the president's ear, the manifesto represents an attempt by hawks to break out of the post-Iraq doldrums and strike back at what they see as a campaign of hostile leaking by their foes in such centers of caution as the State Department or in the military top brass."

Step 76) - 02/09/2004

Inconsistencies in Bush's foreign policy sends a mixed message of objectives but a clear message of weakness as Bush gives Pakistan a pass on selling nuclear secrets.

"Abdul Qadeer Khan, the chief designer of Pakistan's atomic weapons, confessed on television to selling his work through an international black market and claimed he acted alone -- contradicting his previous implication of Mr. Musharraf and other top generals. Yesterday Mr. Musharraf duly pardoned him, called him a hero and declared that Pakistan would not supply documentation to the International Atomic Energy Agency or admit its investigators... What's hard to believe is the Bush administration's reaction to it. Rather than moving to impose sanctions on Pakistan -- action that might be expected for a government that has been caught providing the technology for nuclear weapons to such countries as Iran, Libya and North Korea -- it has swallowed his cover-up and even congratulated him on it."

Step 77) - 02/09/2004

Greg Palast reminded the world that Bush spiked a probe of Pakistan's A.Q. Kahn. Had the Bush administration done their job back then, North Korea might not now be in a position to declare nuclear capabilities. According to Greg Palast:

"On November 7, 2001, BBC TV and the Guardian of London reported that the Bush administration thwarted investigations of Dr. A.Q. Khan who this week confessed selling atomic secrets to Libya, North Korea, and Iran. The Bush Administration has expressed shock at the disclosures that Pakistan, our ally in the war on terror, has been running a nuclear secrets bazaar. In fact, according to the British News Team's sources', Bush did not know of these facts because, shortly after his inauguration, his National Security Agency (NSA) defectively stymied the probe of Khan Research Laboratories. CIA and other agents could not investigate the spread of 'Islamic Bombs' through Pakistan because funding appeared to originate in Saudi Arabia... According to both sources and documents obtained by the BBC, the Bush Administration 'Spike' of the investigation of Dr. Khan's Lab followed from a wider policy of protecting key Saudi Arabians including the bin Laden Family."

Step 78) - 02/17/2004

Once again showing favoritism to a nuclear dictatorship, the Bush administration gave a pass to the defiant Musharaff.

"Pakistan's President has vowed never to allow the UN nuclear inspections agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, into the country despite admitting that the man behind its nuclear weapons program sold nuclear know-how and equipment to three of President Bush's so-called axis of evil states - Libya, Iran and North Korea. President Pervez Musharaff yesterday pardoned the scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man credited with giving Pakistan a nuclear capability to